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100 Survival tips for staying alive in the mountains and outdoors.

1. Let others know where you’re going to be.

2. Don’t climb or hike alone.

3. Carry the right equipment and know how to use it.

4. Don’t be afraid to turn around or cut your trip short for safety
reasons.
5. Stay Hydrated.

6. Protect your eyes with goggles or sunglasses.

7. Know the symptoms of Altitude sickness and prevent it.

8. Have a few good signals for the environment you’re in and know how to use them.

9. Watch out for absolutes.

10. Build strong anchors.

11. Double check your climbing gear.

12. Pay attention to the avalanche forecast and take avalanche precautions

13. Don’t travel unroped on glaciers.

14. Don’t camp in or near dry stream beds.

15. Don’t camp near potential rock fall or in path of avalanches.

16. Don’t camp under deadfalls when in tree line.

17. Carry extra clothing that will keep you warm in event of bad weather.

18. Don’t drive home really tired.

19. Don’t consume large amounts of alcohol and avoid drugs.

20. Avoid stepping near or onto cornices.

21. Don’t cook inside your tent.

22. Make a vent hole when sleeping in a snow cave. Carbon Monoxide poisoning is a danger in snow caves. Most bodies found in snow caves are attributed to hypothermia but I won’t be surprised if some died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

23. In warmer environments with snakes and insects, don’t stick your hands, feet, or any other appendage in holes you can’t see in.

24. Don’t sleep with your head downhill.

25. Ensure you have a good insulation layer between you and the ground when sleeping.

26. Wear a helmet.

27. Lanyard your gloves and other essential items.

28. Tie a knot at the end of your rope when rappelling, to prevent you from rappelling off the end.

29. Don’t climb with reckless people (most often young single men trying to impress women in the group)

30. Purify your water.

31. Don’t glissade with crampons on.

32. Don’t Aussie rappel unless you need to shoot someone on the way down. Rappelling Face down.

33. Yell rocks and get out of the way when you see rock fall or kick down a rock.

34. Be aware of climbers above you in avalanche terrain, when there’s a chance they’ll fall, or chances they will kick lose rocks.

35. Watch out for fast running water in stream crossings.

36. Undo your pack waist belt during water crossings.

37. Practice your self- arrest and don’t put too much confidence in it on icy steep terrain.

38. Know how to build a fire with a knife and metal match or bow and drill.

39. Have a strong Will to Survive.

40. Don’t burn or ditch your equipment.

41. Overcome food aversions.

42. Stop, slow down and think when needed, but don’t panic and freeze up either. Avoid Analysis paralysis.

43. Pay attention to the weather.

44. Don’t climb past your turn around time.

45. Save enough energy for the way down and emergencies.

46. Know your location or general location at all times.

47. Be patient.

48. Speed can be your friend reducing time in exposed areas.

49. If you got a heavy bleeder don’t mess around you have 5 minutes to stop it.

50. If your buddies buried in an avalanche don’t bother calling for help find and dig him/her out. You got 20 minutes.

51. Moss on rocks can be slippery.

52. Wet rocks can be slippery.

53. Don’t be afraid of the dark, but travel more carefully.

54. Don’t crap close to where you eat, sleep, or upstream.

55. Keep your food away from animals.

56. Don’t piss up down wind or above your rope mate, unless you’re tougher than him.

57. Don’t underestimate the amount of water you need in the desert.

58. Don’t listen too literally to survival experts.

59. Don’t climb with large amounts of slack in the rope.

60. Don’t step on the rope.

61. When lead climbing remembers in event of fall you’ll go double the distance from you to your last anchor.

62. Avoid a pengelum effect when crossing crevasses or climbing by paying attention to direction of potential falls.

63. If sliding or getting swept down by moving water go feet first.

64. When getting on and off helicopters wait till they touch the ground, exit downhill, and avoid the tail rotor.

65. Loop back and double check your harness webbing through the buckle.

66. Double check your knots and leave enough tail.

67. Pay attention.

68. Communicate with teammates.

69. Avoid back clipping.

70. Get rid of outdated worn out gear.

71. Know your limits.

72. If you have long hair, secure it before rappelling. I’ve experienced several female friends get their hair caught in the belay/rappel device, not only is it painful but can be dangerous when hanging off the side of a cliff.

73. Realize your chance of an accident or mishap increases when climbing/hiking in bad weather or at night (exception to night travel is mountaineering on glacier when using the cold for better snow conditions)

74. Avoid terrorist hot zones and places you might get kidnapped or go with/hire plenty of fire power.

75. If camping on a glacier probe for crevasses and setup a safety perimeter before setting up camp.

76. Have a turnaround time and stick to it.

77. Know the signs of altitude sickness, HACE, HAPE, how to prevent it, and how to treat it, and take action to get down when you recognize it.

78. Wear a Helmut for rock and ice climbing and mountaineering.

OK I’ve hit the end of my list for now, please help me finish it and get to a 100. Add your comments below.

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Comment by michael paul traster on October 6, 2014 at 1:02pm

use the best thread you can afford. pulling someone up by a garment sewn together with cheap thread, and they are gone... you are left with their sleeve.

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